"Tradition?? The only good traditions are food traditions. The rest are repressive."

"There are two
ways to think. The first is to trust to your ancestors, your religious leaders,
or your charismatic professors. The second is to question, to challenge,
to explore history for meanings, and to analyze issues. This latter is called
Critical Thinking, and it is this that is the mission of my web site. "

Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman

October 2014

Who?s Counting?

One issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, August 23, 2014, was representative of what is going on globally. ?Hamas kills 18 suspected spies in Gaza;? ?Shiite gunmen kill 70 in attack on Sunni mosque;? ?Nation mourns Flight 17 victims (295 of them); ?Civil War deaths top 191,000 after 3 years of conflict in Syria;? ?Ebola outbreak grows nationally with two new cases? (2,615 cases and 1,427 deaths reported). There is a horrific death toll in South Sudan, where ethnic tribal hatreds are killing a hoped for the new republic. Nobody is protesting Sudan?s still-ongoing slaughter of the people of Darfur, who, although Muslim, are black.

The government of the Ukraine is desperately trying to keep their country together as Russia works to split and destroy Ukraine?s independence. In this defensive war, 2,000 civilians were killed in just two days. Tunisia is also arresting (and probably executing) at least 1,000 people as Tunisia tries to save itself from falling in the hands of ISIS. Unfortunately, the press and na?ve fundraisers are fixated on Gaza.

Numbers give us the feeling that we are getting facts, but this is not always the case. When you learn that 295 people were on board the Malaysian plane shot down by Russian agents, you can believe that. But for any figures from the lesser-developed world, be skeptical. Nobody in Muslim countries takes a census; it is culturally lethal to do so. Numbers coming out of Gaza are particularly suspect.

There are no demonstrations in the US or Europe by people outraged by these other horrors, but the rent-a-mobs are always available to demonstrate against Israel and, better yet, Jews, who are told to ?go to the ovens.? Santa Cruz (my local metropolis) is infamous for its counterculture enthusiasms. You can always find demonstrators willing to go forth for causes abhored by the majority of grownups in the county. During both Gulf Wars, these intrepid demonstrators marched with banners supporting Saddam Hussein. Today, they march in support of Gaza, outraged by Israel?s self-defense. That Gaza lobbed thousands of missiles hidden in mosques and schools was fine with them. If Gaza were an innocent victim, why did it beat and expel reporters who found otherwise?
Nihad Awad, spokesman for CAIR, the American propaganda wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, insists that ?Israel is the biggest threat to world peace and security.? This is the height of cynicism. Israel does what we would do if Mexico were lobbing missiles into San Diego. Militant Islam is a bigger problem.

Malaysia has arrested 19 ISIS sympathizers planning to attack nightclubs and bars in Kuala Lumpur. Indonesia has raided ISIS where thugs were planning major mayhem. Thousands of jihadists around the world have sworn allegiance to ISIS. The Philippines are threatened by ISIS recruits trying to join up with the terrorists already there. Spain and Morocco have arrested nine men suspected of recruiting jihadists to join ISIS. Jordan faces 6,000 members of a group that could become a fifth column within the country. Arrests are in process.

The US is well aware of these dangers and is watching who comes and goes from the war zones in the Middle East. On August 22, the FBI arrested Donald Ray Morgan at Kennedy Airport on gun charges, but then interrogated him and found much more serious activities going on. One wonders how much Islamists will benefit from converting such dim bulbs.

Morgan spent 8 months in Lebanon where his ex-wife lives. His twitters caught the Fed?s attention. This fool called himself ?Abu Omar al Amreeki? (?Amreeki? being ?American?) and asked Allah for martyrdom. Allah has not yet obliged. In April, a painfully stupid Colorado woman covert to Islam was arrested before she could travel to Syria to marry a fighter she had met online. We saved her from herself.

Federal police have estimated that at least 100 Americans could be fighting along with the ISIS in Syria. With luck, none of them will live long enough to spawn more fools. Demonstrators need to rethink their focus and learn to count.

678 words

Law or Man's Law. You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com or www.globalthink.net.